Urbanistica is a podcast platform founded by Mustafa Sherif, an urban planner and placemaker based in Sweden. Launched as Sweden's first international podcast focused on urban development, the initiative has grown to reach listeners across more than 150 countries. Rather than a traditional organization with offices and staff, Urbanistica functions as a media project that examines how cities are planned and designed with people's needs at the center.
The podcast format allows Sherif to interview architects, urban planners, landscape designers, and community practitioners about their work, methodologies, and challenges. Episodes explore diverse urban themes ranging from mental health and cultural identity to child-friendly city design and transformative landscapes in post-war housing developments. Recent episodes have examined the Swedish Million Program housing initiative, skateboard park design, and safety in urban landscapes.
Urbanistica operates through strategic partnerships rather than institutional hierarchy. The platform collaborates with organizations including AFRY, an engineering and design company serving as main sponsor, the Center for the Future of Places at KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Placemaking Europe, and international architecture networks like ArchiNet. These partnerships enable recording sessions at major conferences and urban development events, including the Smart City Expo World Congress in Barcelona and the H22 initiative in Helsingborg.
The podcast's distinctive approach emphasizes inclusion, deliberately featuring voices often overlooked in urban discourse: children, artists, parents, and farmers alongside professional experts. This philosophy reflects Sherif's broader conviction that meaningful city-building requires genuine community participation rather than top-down planning decisions.